SALT LAKE CITY — Kobe Bryant said in a recent interview that he and Shaquille O’Neal could have won 12 rings together, and O’Neal could have been the greatest player of all time...
...if Shaq had a better work ethic.
Bryant told Patrick Bet-David, the founder of Valuetainment, in a recent hour-long interview that Shaq could have been better than Michael Jordan, LeBron James and dozens of other NBA greats if he had the same work ethic as Bryant, according to USA Today’s For The Win.
Bryant and O’Neal were teammates from 1996 to 2004 on the Los Angeles Lakers, winning three NBA titles in that span. The two had a slight feud during the last few years of their time together, which extended after the teams separated.
“Who would Shaq be if he had your work ethic?” Bet-David asked.
“He’d be the greatest of all time,” Bryant said. “He’d be the greatest of all time, for sure. He’d be the first to tell you that. I mean this guy was a force like I have never seen. I mean, it was crazy.
“A guy at that size… Generally guys at that size are a little timid and they don’t want to be tall. They don’t want to be big. Man, this dude was… he did not care. He was mean. He was nasty. He was competitive. He was vindictive,” Bryant added.
“I wish he was in the gym. I would have had (expletive) 12 rings …. It wouldn’t even be close.
“… Me and Shaq sit down all the time and I say, ‘if your lazy (expletive) was in shape,’” Bryant said.
Bryant said on Twitter after the interview that Shaq “was still the (most dominant ever).”
Shaq responded on Instagram, adding, “you don’t get statues by not working hard.”
O’Neal added, “U woulda had twelve if u passed the ball more especially in the finals against the pistons #facts.”
Bryant seemed to quell any potential beef in a separate tweet.
“There is no beef with @SHAQ I know most media want to see it but it ain’t gonna happen. Ain’t nothin but love there and we too old to beef anyway #3peat,” he said.
O’Neal then turned his attention to someone else — Dwight Howard.
“It’s all good bro, when I saw the interview, I thought you were talking about Dwite, is that how u spell his name lol,” Shaq tweeted, according to Bleacher Report.